ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: English and German Philology
Areas: English Philology
Center Faculty of Philology
Call: First Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
The aim of this optional course on English sociolinguistics is to introduce students to the field of language variation and change in English. We will also pay attention to the different methods of data retrieval and analysis; the factors playing a role in variation, both user-based (social class, gender, age and ethnicity) and use-based parameters (style, context and register); and geographical variation. All this will be approached basically from a synchronic perspective.
I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. What is sociolinguistics?
1.2. Basic concepts.
1.3. Data and methodology.
1.4. Applications of sociolinguistics.
1.5. Examples and exercises.
II. VARIATION IN MONOLINGUAL COMMUNITIES. REGIONAL VARIATION
2.1. Introduction.
2.2.International varieties.
2.3. Regional varieties.
2.4. Examples and exercises.
III. SOCIAL PATTERNS
3.1. User variability: Ethnicity, social class, age and gender.
3.2. Variability according to use: Style, context and register.
3.3. Examples and exercises
IV. VARIATION IN MULTILINGUAL COMMUNITIES
4.1. Language choice in multilingual communities: domains, diglossia, code-switching, language shift and language death.
4.2. Language contact: Pidgins and creoles
4.3. Examples and exercises.
MATERIALS
There is no set textbook.However, the handnooks by Holmes (2001) and Meyerhoff (2006) are highly recommended. Lecture handouts and worksheets for the interactive sessions will be uploaded in the e-lerning platform. Please make sure you have your print-outs ready for each session.
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, Paul. 2010. Sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Ball, Martin J. (ed.) 2010. The Routledge handbook of sociolinguistics around the world. New York: Routledge.
Bayley, Robert, Richard Cameron, and Ceil Lucas (eds.) 2013. The Oxford handbook of sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Conde Silvestre, Juan Camilo. 2007. Sociolingüística histórica. Madrid: Gredos.
Culpeper, Jonathan, Francis Katamba, Paul Kerswill, Ruth Wodack and Tony McEnery (eds.) 2009. English Language. Description, variation and context. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Evans, Nicholas. 2010. Dying words: Endangered languages and what they have to tell us. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hernández-Campoy, Juan Manuel and Juan Camilo Conde-Silvestre (eds.) 2012. The handbook of historical sociolinguistics. Oxford: Wyley Blackwell
* Holmes, Janet. 2001. An introduction to sociolinguistics. 2nd edn. London: Pearson.
Kiesling, Scott. 2011. Linguistic variation and change. Edimburgh: Edimbuegh University Press.
Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.) 2011. The Cambridge handbook of sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mesthrie, Rajend, Joan Swann, Ana Deumert and William L. Leap. 2009.Introducing sociolinguistics. 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
* Meyerhoff, Miriam. 2006. Introducing sociolinguistics. London: Routledge.
Nevalainen, Terttu and Helena Raumolin-Brunberg. 2003. Historical sociolinguistics. London: Longman.
Spolsky, B. 1998. Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stockwell, Peter. 2002. Sociolinguistics. A resource book for students. London: Routledge.
*Svartvik, Jan and Geoffrey Leech. 2006. English. One tongue, two languages. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tagliamonte, Sali. 2012. Variationist sociolinguistics: Change, observation, inerpretation. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
* Trousdale, Graeme. 2010. An introduction to English sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Wardhaugh, Roland. 2010. An introduction to sociolinguistics. 6th edn. Oxford: Blackwell.
* basic
Corpus and webpages
Corpus of Web-based Global English (GloWbE): https://www.english-corpora.org/glowbe/
Dictionary of Dialects of English: http://eddonline-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/termsOfUse.jsp
Atlas of Varieties of English (eWAVE): https://ewave-atlas.org/
Ethnologue: https://www.ethnologue.com/
University of Sheffiled. Centre for Linguistic: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/linguistics/home/all-about-linguistics/abou….
University of Washington. Sociolinguitics Lab. https://depts.washington.edu/sociolab/
Queen Mary University. English Linguistics Research. https://www.teachrealenglish.org/
Students will become acquainted with the basic principles of sociolinguistics as applied to the English language. They will learn to interpret graphs and tables with sociolinguistic data, and to identify and describe variational patterns in the English language.
CG1, CG8
The language of instruction is English.
Students will be encouraged to use a precise linguistic terminology and notation, to engage in discussion and team work in the practical sessions.
Autonomous work will be promoted, with programmed readings and presentations.
Students will be explected to manage time and work with deadlines.
Additional materials for the different units of the course will be available through the e-learning platform.
• This course requires ACTIVE PARTICIPATION and CONTINUOUS WORK.
• Students’ progress will be evaluated on the basis of CONTINUOUS COURSEWORK (involving participation in interactive sessions and tutorials, worksheets and tasks, some of them via the e-Learning platform), 30% of the general mark. FINAL EXAM (70% ). Students are required to obtain a stisfactory mark in the exam to pass the course. This system applies for assessment in January. For the so called "second opportunity", for those students who retake the subject or for those who have official permission not to attend classes, 100% final exam.
If academic dishonesty, fraudulent or suspicious practices are detected in assignments, tasks or exams of any kind, the "Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revisión de cualificacións" will be applied.
8 hrs/week
None
Ignacio Miguel Palacios Martinez
Coordinador/a- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- Phone
- 881811890
- ignacio.palacios [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Jorge Fernández Avilés
- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- Phone
- 881811974
- jorgefernandez.aviles [at] usc.es
- Category
- Ministry Pre-doctoral Contract
| Wednesday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | C09 |
| 14:00-15:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | C09 |
| Thursday | |||
| 13:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | English | C02 |
| 01.08.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C09 |
| 01.08.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | C09 |
| 06.06.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | D14 |
| 06.06.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | D14 |